MYTHBUSTERS

THREE EXPERTS UNPICK COMMON HEALTH AND FITNESS MYTHS

Eating negative calorie foods will help you lose weight

Amani Kamal saqallah

Clinical dietetics supervisor, Al Noor Hospital

alnoorhospital.com It’s true that foods such as grapefruit or celery contain fewer calories than it takes to digest them. So when you eat these foods, you actually burn more calories than you take in. However, eating a whole bunch of celery and grapefruit speeds your weight loss only if you eat them instead of potato chips or any high-calorie foods. You can’t eat potato chips and then burn off the calories by eating grapefruit. Replacing high-calorie foods with low-calorie foods will help you lose weight because it reduces your total calorie intake. You can also lose weight by exercising, which burns calories, but digesting negative-calorie foods does not replace an exercise programme. You can’t get rid of fat cells permanently, only shrink them

Mat Dryden

Founder, Cobra Fitness, Al Bandar

cobrafitnessuae.com You can certainly get new fat cells, and your existing fat cells can grow, but once you’ve got them, you can’t get rid of them without Dr 90210 (yes, I mean liposuction). The number of fat cells you possess – either through genetic predisposition or through fat cell hyperplasia during childhood or adult obesity – will certainly influence how difficult it will be for you to lose body fat. But anyone can shrink their fat cells by changing their lifestyle – a good diet and regular exercise is the key. And let’s not forget, liposuction not only has risks, it won’t help you if you don’t completely change your lifestyle for good, because your fat cell number can increase again. Drinking beetroot juice improves endurance fitness performance

Jonathan Laxson

Manager of operations, MProve Fitness Centre

mprovefitness.com Some are calling beetroot juice a ‘ legal EPO’ but the verdict is still out in the scientific community. The research on the effects of beetroot juice on endurance athletes (specifically that it is rich in nitrates), remains mixed. Many of the studies claim that beet juice can have positive effects on endurance athletes, while others have demonstrated no effect at all. In the studies where positive results were demonstrated, researchers were able to link the nitrate found in beetroot to an increase in average running speed. Before your next workout, try drinking some beetroot juice or taking a nitrate supplement and see if you experience enhanced results.